INFRA DIG

One of the author's occasional dark-tinged tragicomedies (Easeful Death, etc.), this one dealing with the trials of youngish widow Susan Nebens, left alone to cope with her ailing, spiteful father-in-law Fred. One day Susan accidentally backs her car over him and makes the irrational decision to hide the body and declare him missing. Enter Police Lieutenant Paul Morley and sidekick Wayne, along with Chicago reporter Amanda Tracy and Fred's longtime admirer Amy Rordam. Meanwhile, Susan's efforts to dispose of the corpse are foiled when her car, complete with plastic-bagged body, is stolen by a couple of small-time hoods. An interminable series of farcical incidents brings Fred to his final rest—and the reader to total ennui. A far cry from the author's Father Dowling stories, yet a harmless aberration from an author who rarely disappoints.